Liverpool ride their luck to cut gap on Man City

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool closed to within three points of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League as Sadio Mane’s goal secured a nervy 1-0 win over West Ham at Anfield. Defeat leaves West Ham still two points outside the top four having played more games than all their competition for a place in next season’s Champions League. But David Moyes’ men will rue a host of missed chances to salvage a point, which would have given City breathing space at the top of the table.

Pep Guardiola’s men can restore their six-point advantage when they host Manchester United in a derby at the Etihad on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp made mass changes to his side in midweek for an FA Cup win over Norwich which kept alive hopes of a historic quadruple of trophies for Liverpool. The pursuit of City may be the biggest challenge as the Reds attempt to follow up last weekend’s League Cup win with three more trophies in the remainder of the season.

However, a run of seven straight league wins has at least enlivened a fight for the title after City looked set to cruise toward a fourth league win in five seasons at the turn of the year. Restored to full strength, Liverpool roared out of the blocks and should have been in front within seconds when Mohamed Salah fired wastefully straight at Lukasz Fabianski with just the ‘keeper to beat. West Ham were without the influential presence of Declan Rice in midfield due to illness, while Jarrod Bowen limped off early in the second half with a nasty looking injury.